Mistaken beliefs

It has little to do with interest rates, but a fascinating piece of research came to our attention this week relating to perceptions of cancer risk. According to a major international survey conducted by Gallup International and Roy Morgan for the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), and analysed by the UICC, people in "high income countries" (which includes New Zealand) had significant incorrect beliefs about what causes cancer. Basically, we underestimate the impacts of personal lifestyle risks, and overestimate environmental factors. Specific findings include:

People in high-income countries were the least likely to believe that drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancer. In that group, 42% said alcohol does not increase the risk. In fact, cancer risk rises as alcohol intake increases. In high-income countries, the hazards of not eating enough fruits and vegetables scored more highly as a perceived risk (59%) than alcohol intake did (51%), even though the scientific evidence for the protective effect of fruit and vegetables is weaker than the evidence that alcohol intake is harmful. In rich countries, stress (57%) and air pollution (78%) scored higher as perceived risk factors for cancer than did alcohol intake. However, stress is not recognized as a cause of cancer and air pollution is a minor contributor compared with alcohol consumption. In general, people in all countries are more ready to accept that things outside of their control might cause cancer (such as air pollution), than things that are within their own control (such as overweight, which is a well-established cancer risk factor).